The present invention relates to a photofinishing and preserving method for photographic film, and to a film cassette for implementing the method.
Conventionally, a photofinisher unwinds and separates an exposed 35 mm negative film from the film cassette for developing and printing, and throws away the empty film cassette. The developed film is cut into pieces of six picture frames each, for instance, and the film pieces are inserted in a film cover sheet to preserve them in a proper condition. The film pieces in the film cover sheet are returned to the customer along with the prints.
In the foregoing process, a great number of empty film cassettes have been thrown away as industrial waste products, an undesirable state of affairs, in view of the need to use resources efficiently.
Further, as a practical matter, most of the developed films returned to ordinary customers will never be used again except when extra prints are made, so that the films often are scattered and lost. One of the reasons for this loss is that the film pieces are not folded up any further, and thus require a relatively large space for storage, making it difficult to put them in order.
On the other hand, it is necessary for the photofinisher to cut a film into pieces and also to insert the film pieces in the film cover sheet, reducing the efficiency of photofinishing as a result.